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Reliance Communications Ltd. (532712.BY) Wednesday named the former operating chief of Aircel Ltd., Gurdeep Singh, as the president and chief executive of its wireless business.

The division was previously headed by Syed Safawi, who left the Indian mobile-phone operator in February when his contract as the president of the company's largest arm wasn't renewed.

Singh will also be a member of Reliance Communications' management board, the flagship company of the Reliance Group, headed by billionaire Anil Ambani, said in a statement. Singh had left Aircel in January.

Singh's appointment comes at a time when Reliance Communication's performance has been under pressure due to intense competition--which kept call charges very low--and high interest costs on the debt it took in 2010 to buy bandwidth and expand network. It has been trying to sell stakes in itself and some units to raise funds to repay debt of more than $6 billion, but hasn't been successful.